T - ALL FILMS 2003 - 6/2009

TAKING CHANCE (d. Ross Katz) V. Emotionally devastating TV movie about the consequences of war on the homefront. *** 1/2

TAKING LIVES (d. D.J. Caruso) I intended to hate this predictable & implausable thriller; but its atmosphere & good acting (Hawke!) won me over. ** 3/4

TAKING SIDES (d. István Szabó) Umteenth film in a row Harvey Keitel chews scenery; but Stellan Skarsgard superb. Thoughtful, morally ambiguous. ** 3/4

TAKVA - A MAN'S FEAR OF GOD (d. Ozer Kiziltan) *** 1/4

TALE OF TWO SISTERS (d. Kim Ji-woon) Boring, pointless, confusing "ghost" story mostly about hysteria, but with a few shocks. * 1/4

TALHOTBLOND (d. Barbara Schroeder) *** 1/4

TALK TO ME (d. Kasi Lemmons) *** 1/4

TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE (Parlami d'amore) (d. Silvio Muccino) ***

TALLADEGA NIGHTS (d. Adam McKay) Finally a really funny stupid satire. Sasha Baron Cohen a revelation! ***

TAN DE REPENTE (d. Diego Lerman) Lesbian road film, B&W, like early Godard or Greg Araki, with sweetly life affirming aftertaste. *** 1/4

TAPAS (d. José Corbacho & Juan Cruz) V. ***

TARGET FOR RAGE (d. Michael Watkins) V. High tension 1997 film based on N. Calif. school massacre with excellent acting by Schroder, Winkler & Prinze. ** 3/4

TARNATION (d. Jonathan Caouette) Highly charged personal life docu done as experimental film. Revealing of a screwed up family life, but aroused my sympathy. ***

TATTOOED (Tatuado) (d. Eduardo Raspa) ** 3/4

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE (d. Alex Gibney) Horrific, difficult docu: American torture of prisoners since 9/11. *** 1/4

TAXIDERMIA (d. György Pálfi) ** 3/4

TBILISI-TBILISI (d. Zakareishvili Levan; Georgia) ** 1/2

TBS [NOTHING TO LOSE] (d. Pieter Kuijpers) *** 1/4

TCHAO PANTIN (d. Claude Berri) *** 1/4

TE DOY MIS OJOS (d. Iciar Bollain) Excellent womans picture about a wife dealing with an abusive husband. Fabulous acting by Laia Marull and Luis Tosar! *** 1/2

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (d. Parker & Stone) Surprisingly funny and relevant puppet comedy, trenchant satire on Bruckheimer films. ***

TEAR THIS HEART OUT (Arráncame la vida) (d. Roberto Sneider, Mexico) *** 1/4

TEARS OF APRIL (d. Aku Louhimies) *** 3/4

TEARS OF THE SUN (d. Antoine Fuqua) White man's burden as American soldiers save day in Nigeria. Good direction...horrendous script. * 1/2

TEDDY BEAR (d. Jan Hrebejk) *** 1/4

TELL NO ONE (Ne le dit à personne) (d.Guillaume Canet) *** 1/4

TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE (d. Mark Wexler) Fascinating, very personal docu about prickley liberal cinematographer by his rebellious son. *** 1/2

TELSTAR (d. Nick Moran) ***

TEMPESTA (d. Tim Disney) * 3/4

TEN CANOES (d. Rolf de Heer; Australia) ** 1/2

TEN, THE (d. David Wain) *** 1/4

TERMINAL, THE (d. Stephen Spielberg) Logistic triumph, great cinematography; but a mediocre script. Hanks is turning into the male Meryl Streep. ** 1/2

TERMINATOR 3 RISE OF THE MACHINES (d. Jonathan Mostow) Good script, great f/x, one of the most satisfying action thrillers of recent years. *** 1/4

TERMINATOR 4 (d. McG) I love the "Terminator" world, including the tv-show contrib to the mythos. This film worked, consistent and thrilling. *** 1/4

TERRIBLY HAPPY (d. Henrik Ruben Genz) ** 3/4

TESIS (d. Alejandro Amenabar 1995) Thriller about snuff films on campus. Amenabar at 23 was already an accomplished creepmeister! *** 1/2

TESSERACT, THE (d. Oxide Pang) Complex, stylish thriller about a dope smuggling deal which goes wrong. ***

TESTOSTERONE (d. David Moreton) Nicely done thriller about obsessive love, made in Argentina with a fine cast. Looks splendid, but some editing decisions detract. ** 3/4

TESTOSTERONE (d. David Moreton)V.+ Murky gay doings in Buenos Aires with an attractive (!) cast & a story of lust and longing which doesn't work. ** 1/2

TEXAS (d. Fausto Paravidino) ***

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (d. Jason Reitman) Clever satire with a great cast. Slightly oversold as the best thing since sliced bread. ***

THAT MAN: PETER BERLIN (d. Jim Tushinski) Interesting docu about male porn object of the '70s. Nicely made with excellent interviews. *** 1/4

THEATER OF WAR (d. John Walter) ** 1/2

THEM (Ils) (d. David Moreau and Xavier Palud) ** 3/4

THEN SHE FOUND ME (d. Helen Hunt) Enjoyable, if predictable, romantic dramidy. ** 3/4

THERE GOES MY BABY (d. Floyd Mutrux) V. American Graffiti lite: high-school grad night set in L.A. during Watts riots. Good music, bad acting. ** 1/2

THERE WILL BE BLOOD (d. Paul Thomas Anderson) Respect the filmmaking more than loved the film. *** 1/4

THESE FOOLISH THINGS (d. Julia Taylor-Stanley) **

THEY (d. Robert Harmon)V. Atmospheric but shlocky horror flick about some college students who had night terrors as kids & now they're being harvested by "they". ***

THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY (d. Daniel Junge) Shocking docu about miscarried justice in the Brazil rainforests. *** 1/4

THEY'VE GOT KNUT (Germany d. Stefan Krohmer) A tedious film about a group of leftists who meet in a Tyrol ski cabin for fun times & relating. **

THICKER THAN WATER (d. Arni Olafur Asgersson) *** 1/4

THIEF OF PARIS, THE (d. Louis Malle) V. Very cool, young Belmondo in solid period piece. Malle obviously influenced by Bresson at this stage. ***

THIEVES AND LIARS (d. Matta & Marichal) ***

THING ABOUT MY FOLKS, THE (d. Raymond De Felitta) Touching family comedy written & acted by Paul Reiser with the great Peter Falk. ***

THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE (d. Susanne Bier) Fine direction, fantastic acting (del Toro & Barry) *** 1/4

THINK IT OVER (d. Katerina Evangelakou) Forgetable romantic comedy: family where daughter is pregnant by her much younger almost step brother. *

THIRTEEN (d. Catherine Hardwick) Hard to watch, authentic, gritty drama about "good" teen girl going bad. Wood & Hunter truly great! *** 1/4

THIRTY DAYS OF NIGHT (d. David Slade) V. Hyper-violent vampire film with ridiculous script, some bad overacting, but also a scary Arctic atmosphere. **

THIS CHARMING GIRL (d. Lee Yoon-ki) Tedious, pointless film about a quietly suffering S. Korean girl wounded inside by sexual abuse. ** 1/4

THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (d. Kirby Dick) V. Amusing indictment of rating system. Predictable. *** 1/4

THIS GIRL'S LIFE (d. Ash)V. Extraordinarily powerful film about a girl in the internet porn biz. Great perfs by James Wood, Kip Pardue and esp. Juliette Marquis. *** 1/4

THIS IS ENGLAND (d. Shane Meadows) *** 1/4

THOSE HAPPY DAYS (Ces jours heureux) (d. Nackache & Tolédano) OK summer camp romantic comedy. Got better as it went along. ** 1/2

THOSE WHO REMAIN (Ceux qui restent) (d. Anne Le Ny) ** 3/4

THOUSAND CLOUDS OF PEACE, A (d. Julio Hernandez) Pretentious B&W gay reverie about a teen boy's troubles coming out. Mala Noche from the chicken's POV. ** 3/4

THREE BLIND MICE (d. Matthew Newton) ***

THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, THE (d. Tommy Lee Jones) ***

THREE DANCING SLAVES (d. Gaël Morel) Three attractive brothers and their somewhat eliptical stories. Morel should quit directing & return to acting. ** 1/4

THREE MARIAS (Brazil/Italy d. Aluizio Abranches) Stylish drama of family feud and revenge. A nothing story gorgeously told. ** 1/2

THREE MONKEYS (d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Turkey) *** 1/2

THREE OF HEARTS (d. Susan Kaplan) Interesting docu about a 3-way "marriage" between two gay men & a straight woman. Fascinating outcome. *** 1/4

THREE ON THE ROAD (Baciami Piccina) (d. Roberto Cimpanelli) ***

THREE TIMES (d. Hou Hsiao-hsien) **

THUMBSUCKER (d. Mike Mills) ** 1/2

TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US (d. Michael Petroni)V. My low expectations for this moody romance (man & ghost) were exceded. Bravo Guy Pearce! ***

TILSAMMANS (d. Lukas Moodysson) V.+ Undeminished a 2nd time. The best film about the leftist collectives of the '70s ever made. ****

TIME CHANGER (d. Rich Christiano) Offensive Christian propaganda film disguised as a SF time travel story. 0*

TIME OF THE WOLF (d. Michael Haneke) Contextless, disturbing apocolyptic drama of society's breakdown in rural France. Strong stuff. ***

TIME TO DIE (Pora Umierac) (d. Dorota Kedzierzawska) ***

TIME TO LEAVE (d. François Ozon) ****

TIMECRIMES (d. Nacho Vigalondo) ** 1/2

TIMELINE (d. Richard Donner) Workmanlike, if eliptical, historical time-travel story, looked good...but the acting and direction mostly sucked. * 3/4

TIMES AND WINDS (d. Riha Erdem) *** 1/4

TIN MINE, THE (d. Jira Maligool; Thailand) ** 3/4

TO BE AND TO HAVE (France d. Nicolas Philibert) Pastoral documentary about a year in the life of a one-room school in rural France. ***

TO BE OR NOT TO BE (d. Ernst Lubitch) V. Polish WWII farce with some clever, if unrealistic, fantasy writing. No trace of the Lubitch touch. **

TO GET TO HEAVEN YOU FIRST HAVE TO DIE (Bihisht Faqat Baroi Murdagon) (d. Djamshed Usmonov) ***

TO SERVE & PROTECT (d. Jean de Segonzac) V. Competent '98 tv movie about a family of Dallis cops & a serial killer targeting them. James Franco's 1st role. ** 3/4

TOGETHER (China/S. Korea d. Chen Kaije) Audience pleaser about a young violin prodigy facing life in Beijing. *** 1/4

TOKYO SONATA (d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) Excellent screwed-up family drama & morality tale which is more Kore-eda + Cantet than Kurosawa. *** 1/2

TOKYO! (d. Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Joon-ho Bong) ** 1/2, * 3/4, ** 1/2

TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS (d. Dave Moore) V. *** 1/4

TOMORROW MORNING (Sutra ujutro) (d. Oleg Novkovic; Serbia) * 3/4

TON OF LUCK, A (d. Rodrigo Triana; Columbia) ** 1/4

TONY MANERO (d. Pablo Larrain) ** 1/2

TORREMOLINOS 73 (d. Pablo Berger) Fun satire about an ordinary couple making home pornos for the Scandinavian market. Candela Peña a standout! ***

TOTALLY PERSONAL (Sasvim Licno) (d. Nedzad Begovic) ** 3/4

TOTALLY SEXY LOSER (d. Jason Schafer) Low budget, very realistic DV comedy about a man afraid to commit (fine Chad Lindsey) in a doomed affair. ***

TOUCH (d. Paul Schrader) V.+ Nice cast, esp. Skeet Ulrich; I hadn't remembered it at all until the stigmata scene which stuck. ** 1/2

TOUCH OF PINK (d. Ian Iqbal Rachid) Witty, skillful comedy much like The Wedding Banquet: gay man's Muslim family unaware he's gay. ***

TOUCH OF SPICE, A (d. Tassos Boulmetis) Large scale but intimate picaresque à la Junot: a Turkish-Greek family, a boy's coming of age with a heavy food metaphor. ** 3/4

TOUCHING EVIL (d. var.) V. Eerie English detective miniseries created by Paul Abbott and Russell Davis with fine cast (Robson Green!) *** 1/4

TOUCHING THE VOID (d. Kevin Macdonald) V. Recreated docu (with interviews with original mountain climbers.) Suspenseful, nicely shot, but more fiction than doc? *** 1/4

TOUGH ENOUGH (d. Detlev Buck) *** 1/2

TOUR, THE (d. Goran Markovic; Serbia) ** 1/4

TOURNEUSE DE PAGES, LA (d. Denis Dercourt) *** 1/4

TOUT CONTRE LÉO (d. Christophe Honoré) French tv "afternoon special": 12 yr. old boy whose older brother gets AIDS. Frank, well acted. ** 1/2

TOUT UN HIVER SANS FEU (d. Greg Zglinski; Switzerland) ** 3/4

TRACKER, THE (d. Rolf de Heer) Spare, well shot drama of white power in Australia in 1922. The Aboriginal hero was the best thing in the film. ***

TRAFFIC (d. Eric Bross, Stephen Hopkins) V. 3 part mini-series: new story, many threads, volently cross-cut, high tension, good acting. ***

TRAINWRECK: MY LIFE AS AN IDOIT (d. Todd Harrison Williams) ***

TRAITOR (d. Jeffrey Nachmanoff) Superior, if predictable, terrorism thriller with superb perfs by Cheadle and Guy Pearce. *** 1/4

TRANSAMERICA (d. Duncan Tucker) *** 1/4

TRANSFORMERS (d. Michael Bay) ** 1/4

TRANSPORTER 2, THE (d. Louis Leterrier) ** 1/2

TRANSPORTER, THE (d. Louis Leterrier)V. ** 3/4

TRANSSIBERIAN (d. Brad Anderson) ***

TRAP, THE (d. Srdan Golubovic; Serbia) *** 3/4

TRAPPED (d. Luis Mandoki) V. Greg Iles is one of my fave authors; but his own screenplay for his worst book was lame. Still, worked as thriller. ** 1/2

TREASURE PLANET (d. Ron Clements, John Musker) Disney animated Oscar nom based on Treasure Island. I slept through part of it. * 1/2

TRECE CAMPANADAS (d. Xavier Villaverde) Brilliantly made Hitchcockian thriller/ghost story. *** 1/2

TREELESS MOUNTAIN (d. So-Yong Kim) ** 1/2

TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT, THE (d. Stern & Sundberg) Almost perfect docu about failure of justice in N. Carolina. *** 3/4

TRIANGLE (Tie Saam Gok) (d. Tsui Hark, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam) ** 1/4

TRICKS (d. Andrzej Jakimowski; Poland) ***

TRILOGY: AFTER LIFE (France/Belgium d. Lucas Belvaux) Melodrama about the morphine addict & her flic husband running parallel to previous. ***

TRILOGY: AN AMAZING COUPLE (France/Belgium d. Lucas Belvaux 100) Edgy romantic comedy farce of events running parallel to above. ***

TRILOGY: ON THE RUN (France/Belgium d. Lucas Belvaux) Thriller noir about prison escapee terrorist, taut and well played. *** 1/2

TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION (d. Peter Esmonde) ** 1/2

TRIP TO KHARABAKH (d. Levan Tutberidze) ***

TRIPLE AGENT (d. Eric Rohmer) Cerebrial, talky, involving pre-WWII thriller about a White Russian general and his Greek wife. ***

TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, THE (d. Sylvaine Chomet) Stylish 2-D animation feature, weird story: Tour de France race gone very wrong. Not my cuppa'. ***

TRISTAN + ISOLDE (d. Kevin Reynolds) Formula period romance with a charismatic perf by James Franco and a better than average script. ** 3/4

TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (d. Michael Winterbottom) ***

TROLLYWOOD (d. Madeleine Farley) Poorly edited and photographed doc. about the homeless in my neighborhood of L.A. * 3/4

TROPIC THUNDER (d. Ben Stiller) One of the funniest, most clever set ups of the movie biz ever. Often silly; but it worked for me. *** 1/4

TROPICAL MALADY (d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) Very strange, beautiful film which starts as a simple gay friendship film & ends as an allegory. ** 3/4

TROUBLE THE WATER (d. Deal & Lessin) Docu with amateur video work, but a strong personalized message about Katrina lessons. ***

TROUBLED WATER (d. Erik Poppe) *** 3/4

TROY (d. Wolfgang Peterson) Much better than expected...a psychologically apt script and some great battles and superb acting (esp. Peter O'Toole). *** 1/2

TRUE ADOLESCENTS (d. Craig Johnson) *** 1/2

TRUE LOVE (d. Michael J. Saul)V. ***

TRUE STORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, THE (d. Jim Lindsay) V. Quite informative History Channel 2 1/4 hr. opus, better than the recent feature. ***

TRUST THE MAN (d. Bart Freundlich) Enjoyable adult relationship comedy which peters out last 1/3. ***

TRUTH AND LIES (d. Piergiorgio Gay) Italian film about a man discovers the truth about his Fascist father. ***

TRY TO REMEMBER (d. Zabout Breitman) Moving & pathos filled love story set in rehab hospital. Young woman with Alzheimer's. *** 1/4

TSOTSI (d. Gavin Hood; South Africa) ****

TU VERRAS, ÇA TE PASSERA (d. Fabrice Cazeneuve) Superb coming out "afternoon special" tv movie, frank and truthful as only the French can do. *** 1/4

TULPAN (d. Sergei Dvortsevoy; Kazakhstan) *** 1/4

TULSE LUPER SUITCASES 1, THE (Peter Greenaway) Ambitious multi-media project, visual jumble, I just couldn't take it for long. W/O

TUPAC: RESURRECTION (d. Lauren Lazin) V. Superbly made docu about life & death of 2Pac Shakur, ultimately too hagiographic. *** 1/4

TURN LEFT, TURN RIGHT (d. Johnny To, Wai Ka-fai) Exhillerating romantic comedy in the Lelouchian And Now My Love mode. *** 1/4

TURTLES CAN FLY (d. Bahman Ghobadi) Powerful, wrenching drama about damaged Kurdish children in a refugee camp just before Gulf War 2. *** 1/4

TV JUNKIE (d. Michael Cain) ***

TV SET, THE (d. Jake Kasdan) Spot on satire of tv network/show running goings on. Great cast, nifty, truthful script. *** 1/4

TWELVE AND HOLDING (d. Michael Cuesta) *** 1/2

TWENTY THOUSAND STREETS UNDER THE SKY (d. Simon Curtis) V. BBC romantic period '30s drama from 3 points of view. Bryan Dick! ***

TWICE UPON A TIME (Désaccord parfait) (d. Antoine De Caunes) ** 1/2

TWILIGHT (d. Catherine Hardwicke) Paradigmic film with vampirism as metaphor for teenage insecurities. Strangely beautiful & involving. *** 1/4

TWILIGHT DANCER (d. Mel Chionglo) * 1/4

TWILIGHT SAMURAI, THE (d. Yoji Yamada) A masterpiece set in same era as Last Samurai. Intimate, truthful and emotionally fulfilling. ****

TWIN SISTERS (d. Ben Sombogaart) 20th cent, epic of 2 twins separated at 6 yr., one German, one Dutch. Beautifully made in every department. ****

TWIST (d. Jacob Tierney) A very bleak, but truthful digital variant on Oliver Twist characters as Toronto street hustlers. Great acting, but unremitting. ** 3/4

TWIST OF FATE (d. Kirby Dick) V. Downer docu about angry men who were molested as teenagers by a Catholic priest in Toledo OH. Incendiary, but sort of boring. ** 1/2

TWISTED (d. Philip Kaufman) Utterly predictable, unlikely policier thriller. Ashley Judd fares well; but the film is pretty bad. * 3/4

TWISTED LOVE (shorts)

TWO DAYS (d. Sean McGinly) Hip, funny - a 30-something actor (Paul Rudd at the top of his game) who has a documentary made about his suicide. *** 1/4

TWO DRIFTERS (d. João Pedro Rodrigues) ** 3/4

TWO FOR THE MONEY (d. D.J. Caruso) ** 1/2

TWO FRIENDS (d. Scimone, Sframeli) Slice of life drama about 2 roommates, one a mafia hit-man, the other an ordinary joe. Droning, boring. **

TWO GREAT SHEEP (d. Liu Hao) Visually stunning Chinese shaggy sheep story about collectivism gone nuts. I was a little bored. ** 1/2

TWO LOVERS (d. James Gray) ***

TWO SONS OF FRANCISCO (Dois Filhos de Francisco) (d. Breno Silveira; Brazil) ** 3/4

TYCOON: A NEW RUSSIAN (d. Pavel Languine) Fascinatingly dense, overdone haunting satire about the rise and fall of a modern Russian Oligarch. *** 1/4